Contributions to Education: Prudential Financial

"Since 1875, we’ve been helping people build better tomorrows and realize their dreams," said Arthur Ryan, Chairman and CEO, Prudential Insurance Company of America

Prudential’s corporate citizenship dates back to its founding premise. John Dryden, Prudential’s founder, believed that working class Americans were entitled to the opportunity to protect their family financially and bury their dead with dignity. He brought the concept of industrial insurance to the United States, which allowed workers some measure of peace of mind and respect.

Prudential’s corporate citizenship has grown from an intention expressed by its founder into a multi-million dollar effort led by the company’s senior executives and Board of Directors. Our outreach efforts take place within the Community Resources Department, which is comprised of four functions. The Prudential Foundation, the company’s grant making unit, annually disperses nearly $25 million to non-profits throughout the United States. The Social Investments Division functions as a below-market lender to non- and for-profit organizations that are working to improve the quality of life, education and economic infrastructure in inner cities. Local Initiatives administers the company’s $7 million company contributions budget, musters hundred of thousands of Prudential executive and employee volunteer hours each year and acts as Prudential’s representatives in communities around the world. Business Diversity Outreach facilitates diverse market development and outreach efforts for Prudential businesses.

Prudential’s involvement in public education is at least thirty years old. It has grown from a fragmented approach to giving to a consolidated, leveraged effort aimed at creating systemic change in public education. Our goal is to provide a level playing field for all children by creating equal opportunities for them to learn and achieve. Our expectation is that equity of educational opportunity will give all children a chance to lead productive adult lives.

In 2000, Prudential drew its strategic education efforts under one umbrella as a way to better coordinate and leverage its resources. Knowing that no one organization can catalyze systemic change, we believe in three sector partnerships. Our proactive efforts bring public, private and nonprofit organizations together. We work alongside our partners, many of whom are widely recognized for their best-practices programs. Elements of the program are carried out in each of the communities where we have major concentrations of employees— Newark, Atlanta, Chicago, Hartford, Houston, Jacksonville, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Philadelphia and Phoenix. We’re also active in our headquarters state, New Jersey, and in national grants.

Our approach tackles reform in a variety of fields:

Public Policy

Since the involvement of Prudential’s chairman Art Ryan in the National Education Summit of 1996, Prudential has focused on implementing a world-class standards-based education system in New Jersey. Our efforts have led us to found the Business Coalition for Educational Excellence, a partnership of businesses in the state focused on education standards. We also actively collaborate in programs like the Abbot Implementation Advisory Commission, which brings leaders in the state’s various sectors together to ensure that children in poor communities receive the education supplements they require to start school on an equal footing with other students.

School Support

We know that children in stressed communities have challenges to learning that require special support systems. In addition to creating a responsive learning environment, we also believe in bringing services to the schools that will meet students’ needs for educational enrichment, health care, and after school programs. One example: To carry out our commitment to a holistic approach, in Newark we collaborated with non profit, school, and community leaders to transform an ailing inner city school into a well-developed full-service community school. The Quitman Street Community School serves as a national model that combines high academic quality with a wide range of in-house services, opportunities, and support.

Delivery of High Quality Content to Students

As we learn more about the cognitive development of our youngest citizens, it’s necessary to bring these advancements to urban public education. Our work with organizations such as the Children’s Literacy Initiative, Bank Street College, and Sesame Workshop brings high quality content and curriculum to school systems across the United States.

Individual Involvement with Public Education

Prudential strongly encourages its employees to get involved in education. The company provides paid days off, a matching gifts program and tutoring/mentoring programs to encourage the involvement of employees in the education of their children or of their community’s children. We also focus our volunteer programs on partner schools where we’re directly involved in creating a new learning environment.

Building a Strong Constituency for Education Reform

All educational stakeholders need to step forward and help schools improve. Prudential created New Jersey United and the Committee of Advocates for Newark’s Children to advance reform agendas developed with a broad group of education stakeholders. We’ve successfully mobilized a variety of organizations and individuals on various reform initiatives.
Prudential’s efforts in public education focus on both short- and long-term improvements for children. Prudential’s corporate citizenship strategy has tried to provide a holistic approach to helping children and their families lead better lives. All of our children deserve bright tomorrows. Prudential’s support of public education aims to make sure they have the tools they need to create the futures of their dreams.